‘I’ve been shot!’: Gunfire, speeding cars raise chaos in Riverside

A teenager is out of the hospital after he was shot in the back during a chaotic Tuesday night in Riverside, according to a police incident report.

The 17-year-old boy was shot at least one time in the back around 10 p.m. Police said the injured teen “was involved (in) an altercation … with another group of individuals” near Prince Albert Boulevard and Broadmead Avenue.

Police have a person of interest in the case but did not identify him. The police investigation is ongoing.

The young man ran to a Valero service station at 2531 Valley St. to get help.

Around the same time a host of neighbors called 911 to report cars speeding down the neighborhood roads.

“I just heard gunshots in front of my house,” said one caller. “I just heard it and the car sped off. My husband went outside to make sure there’s nobody laying on the ground or anything, but he hasn’t come back in yet.”

A man at the Valero station then called 911.

“He’s not dead, he’s walking around … He come in, he said ‘Call 911, I’ve been shot,’ and I thought he was joking,” the caller said. “I was just here at the register paying for a cold beer, and I’m going to enjoy it.”

Nationwide, nearly 1,300 children die and 5,790 are treated for gunshot wounds each year, according to a 2017 study from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.